1. Until 1935 current day Iran was known as what?
Iran was called Persia until 1935. It used to be formidable and huge empire. Literally Iran means, “Land of Aryans”. It is home to one of world’s oldest civilization, which was formed around 2500 BC(Browne, 2013). The original Persia’s territory shared borders with China and Greece. In another words, it has land in Asia, Europe and Africa. It acted as a central hug of three continents. The capital of Persia was Persepolis. Iran was a monarchic state till the Islamic Revolution.
2. In your personal opinion, what is the biggest misconception the West has had about Iranians?
In fact, there are many misconceptions that the West world has about Iranians. For instance, eople from the West often assume that Iranians do not have freedom in terms of religion. In my opinion, I think this is the biggest misconception. Iran is not religiously oppressive at all. People live in Iran could have religious freedom as their Western counterparts. Local Muslims are living harmoniously with other religious groups such as Christians and Jews. The religious minority groups could have very beautiful places to do their worship without any restrictions. Even though there are many dietary prohibitions in the Islamic religion, Iranians from other religious background such as Christianity are allowed to consume pork products and even alcohol. They could also freely self-identify in the public. Besides, there are designated seats in the Parliament for people from religious minority groups. If the minority groups feel insulted, they could organize demonstration and protest on streets. Their opinions would be heard and respected by Muslims and local government.
3. What are 5 important dining etiquettes in Iran? Make sure to do external research on the internet for additional information!
First, fork and spoon are the only dining cutleries. Knife, chopsticks and other cutleries are seldom used.
Moreover, according to the case study, Iranians are also practicing “Ta’arof” in their dining etiquettes. For instance, the host must offer a guest something to eat or drink but the guest has to decline the first few offers and then accept the food. It is a way to demonstrate “humility” in Iranian culture.
Very similarly, guests are expected to leave some food on their plates to show that they feel full. This table manner is also regarded as polite gestures. Otherwise the host would keep serving the food.
In addition, guests are often invited to eat first but they should provide their comments on the food. The term, 'daste shoma dard nakone' is often used to thank for the host’s food. It means “may your hand not hurt” in English.
Last, guests have to wait to be told before sitting at a dining table(Ghoreishi, 2015). Cultural conversations from Iran to America. Florida Atlantic University.. In fact, originally people in Iran would never use dining tables. They would consume their food on the floor. Sofreh(table cloth) would be used to cover on a Persian rug. People would have their meals there. However, in modern Iranian families, dining tables are becoming more and more popular. Guests have to wait for host’s instructions before sitting.
4. What personal qualities are most highly regarded by Iranians? Does gender affect your answer? Explain.
According to the case study, humility, conservative in talk, face-saving, are some very important personality traits regarded by Iranians. Among them, in my opinion, humility is the most highly regarded personal quality. As the aforementioned, Ta’arof is a very special social system in Iran. It literally means “meeting together”. It is a system of politeness and humility that is expressed in both verbal and non-verbal communications in the daily life of Iranians(Assadl, 1980). They would be embarrassed from excessive praise and belittle their own achievement or contribution. They believe that they are the correct ways to be humble or have a humble image to others.
Gender, in fact, does not affect my answer. Originally there were misperception that women in Iran were less educated. In fact, in most Islamic countries including Iran, women could have an adequate access to educational resources, even though they still seem to have an inferior social position as compared to men. Now over 60% of university entrants are females. There are another 30% of women in the workforce of Iran(Keele, 2016). It shows that women are also educated in terms of social courtesies. Iranian women also regard “humility” as the most important trait and are very cautious to create a polite self-image.
5. What would be typical verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours? Consider variables such as directness, personal space and demonstration of emotions. How would this affect the outcome of communication with a North American?
As shown in the case study, the typical verbal and non-verbal behaviours is certainly “silence”. Iranian people are very scared of using improper words in their communications with others. In fact, those would keep silent or slow speakers are more socially desirable. They are appreciated by others because it shows that they are very careful in preparing and delivering messages. In terms of directness, as compared with their Western counterparts, Iranians are often trying to be indirect or ambiguous in their communications(Sharifian&Tayebi, 2017). It is because of their face-saving personality trait. They often use indirect references or speak something less in details but expect the audiences to figure out the hidden messages. However, the personal space in Iran is relative shorter than many other countries. For same gender, the safe personal space is less than 1 meter. For different gender group, this space is about 3 meters long. Moreover, as shown in the case study, Iranians tend to display their emotions and feelings through their body movements and facial expressions. They would use all the senses in their communication and interaction with others.
But it is indisputable that these cultural differences would make the communications between Iranians and North Americans rather difficult. On one hand, North Americans prefer high level of directness in their conversations. They also perceive fast speakers to be highly competent. In addition, North Americans would prefer slightly longer personal space as privacy is more valued in the West world. However, the cultural difference in terms of emotional expressions is very small between North Americans and Iranians. Generally speaking, both parties should be fully aware of the cultural differences. Otherwise, both might feel insulted or very uncomfortable in their conversations.
6. How might a classroom in Iran differ from one in Canada? Include in your answer respect for authority, directness, conflict, individual expressiveness and teaching style of instructor.
Based on the information provided in the case study, it could be inferred that the level of authority in the Iranian classroom would be much higher than that in Canada. Iran’s society has a very centralized authority structure. It would be socially unacceptable for a young student to challenge their teacher, especially an old Iranian person. In Canada, students are encouraged to challenge the teacher’s viewpoints or offer their own freely. As the aforementioned, Iranian classroom tends to have low level of directness. Students might be refrained or less willing to ask questions. The teachers would also not explain in details about a problem or a question. When there is a conflict, students have to accept what teachers have taught them. They could not challenge their teachers’ views. If students have conflicts with each other, they prefer indirect dealing with the conflicts. Iranian students have difficulty to separate the conflict from the person. However, students in Canada would quarrel, dispute, debate or even fight with each other about a problem but meanwhile could still be friends. It is very unlikely the case in Iran. In terms of individual expressiveness, when discussing very important thing or interesting points, Iranian students would elevate their volumes which seems very “noisy”. They would also use many facial expressions when expressing their views. It is true that sometimes Canadian students are doing the same things. But generally speaking, the frequency is much lower as Canadian students wish to have a civilized and polite image. Last, Canadian instructors are certainly fast speakers. They tend to inspire and motivate students to find out the answers by themselves. They would be highly talkative and make the classroom have more dynamics and energy. In addition, students are encouraged to do their own researchers and learn beyond the classroom. Conversely, Iranian instructors would prefer students to memorize lecture notes, contents and “standard answers”. They seldom go into details about questions. Instead of inspiring, the learning process is constructed upon mechanical memory of students about teaching materials.
7. Given the description of Iranian communication in this reading, is Iran a high or low context culture? High or low power distance? Individualistic or collectivist? High or low uncertainty avoidance? Masculine of feminine? Past, present or future oriented? What does each one mean? Make sure to provide examples and reasons for your choice of answers!
All of the above-mentioned aspects are from Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory(Hofstede, 2010). From the case reading, Iran’s culture is certainly a high-context culture. In high-context culture, the information is often not delivered through clear, explicit or direct messages. Iranians are often ambiguous or indirect in their communication in order to avoid embarrassing others and be more face-saving.
Iran also has a high power distance of 58. It shows that Iran has a hierarchical society. Power distance is used to indicate the extent that the less powerful group is to accept or expect the unequal power distribution(Hofstede, 2010). According to the case study, Iran has a centralized authority structure. Iranians have to respect the elderly. They would let people from higher social status to eat first.
Individualism and collectivism are often used to reflect the degree of dependence in social relationships(Hofstede, 2010). Iran has a collectivistic society. The term “I” is often undermined. They tend to belittle their personal achievements, face-saving or implicit in communication, valuing harmony as so on. In the beginning paragraph of the case study, women in Iran could talk freely but seldom express their views as an individual.
Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which social members from a culture feel threatened by ambiguity or uncertain things so that they try to avoid them(Hofstede, 2010). Iran has a very high uncertainty avoidance index. It shows that social rules, orders and orthodox are deeply respected. In the reading, people are respecting social orders. They believe authority and social approval. It is also the reason why they are proud to have credentials. But it might be true that new ideas and innovations might be resisted in Iran.
Masculine or Feminine are used to distinguish a culture about whether its people are wanting to be winners or appreciate what they have done(Hofstede, 2010). In this sense, Iran is recognized as a feminine society as people highly value harmony. Conflicts are often resolved through compromise or negotiation. Iranians prefer indirect way of resolving conflicts. They would also like to save faces or face-honouring.
Iranians are past-oriented as they would like to provide extensive information when dealing with an issue or a problem. According to the case study, people are highly interested in general background information or previous traditions about the issue. North Americans on the other hand are more present-oriented. They seldom care about the “traditions or speculations."
8. When is the Persian New Year? How is it celebrated? What items are included?
Persian New year or Nowruz starts at the exact moment of vernal equinox. In 2018, the Persian New Year was on March 21st. Iranians often have a 13-day celebration for the Nowruz. People often pay short visit to their friends, relatives or neighbors and they would do the same things in return. The most important ritual is certainly to set the Haft Seen. Haft-seen or the seven ‘S’s is a traditional table setting during Nowruz. The haft seen table includes 7 items all starting with S according to the Persian alphabets in order to wait the exact moment of spring. In ancient time, these items are referring to 7 creations and immortals to protect them. When the exact moment comes, people start to exchange gifts. Then on the first of Nowruz, the first visit is paid to senior family members. On the last day, people would carry their Sabzeh to have picnic outside. They would through the Sabzeh or green grass into the flowing water to let go “unfortunate” things as the number “13” in the 13-day Nowruz is not a lucky number.
Reference (APA)
Assadl, R. (1980). Deference: Persian style. Anthropological Linguistics, 22(5), 221-224.
Browne, E. G. (2013). A literary history of Persia. Routledge.
Ghoreishi, S. (2015). Cultural conversations from Iran to America. Florida Atlantic University.
Hofstede, G. (2010). Geert hofstede. National cultural dimensions.
Keele, B. J. (2016). Access to Justice in Iran: Women, Perceptions, and Reality.
Sharifian, F., & Tayebi, T. (2017). Perception of (im) politeness and the underlying cultural conceptualisations. Pragmatics and Society, 8(2), 231-253.